The Philadelphia Flyers received some good news earlier Monday after forward Noah Cates was activated off of injured reserve and deemed available to play in Monday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.
Cates was injured in the Flyers’ 1-0 shootout win over the New York Islanders on the 25th of November. He was set to be ruled out for the following 6-8 weeks with a lower-body injury that was later clarified to be a broken foot.
After a superb rookie season, Cates stumbled out the gates with just 1 goal and 4 points in 21 games this year before the injury. As expected, his ice-time dropped with the return of Sean Couturier (from 17:46 to 14:25) but his defensive efforts and two-way game were still on display. Before tending to his broken foot, Cates was leading the club in shorthanded minutes played (45.1) while also besting all forwards in shorthanded time on ice per game (2:08), and carrying a 14:2 takeaway to giveaway ratio.
Last year, Cates scored 13 goals and 38 points in 82 games while averaging 17:46 TOI, potted 5 game-winning goals, and carried a 60:13 takeaway to giveaway ratio. He paced the forwards in shorthanded time on ice per game again (1:51), he was third in overall time-on-ice per game for forwards (17:46), and he was second amongst forwards in blocked shots (65) and first on the team in takeaways.
Before the injury, Cates was riding a 13-game pointless drought, however with Couturier and Jamie Drysdale still on the mend for tonight’s game, look for Cates to snap the drought in short order as he figures back into the lineup – and possibly into a more offensively-minded role.
The Flyers will be going back to the regular 12 forward and 6 defensemen set as Marc Staal will come out of the lineup with Cates taking his spot. Carter Hart will return between the pipes for his 25th start of the season as he looks to gather his 12th win of the year.
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